It won't and shouldn't match Geoff Jenkins return to Milwaukee with the Phillies in April, but former fan favorite, Lyle Overbay, is returning to Miller Park along with his Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Overbay deserves nothing less than the standing "O"-vation that became famous in Miller Park when his name is announced by Robb Edwards. Overbay was an integral cog in the Richie Sexson trade to the Diamondbacks and did nothing but produce for the Brewers in his two years in Milwaukee. In 2004 he hit .301 while smacking a Brewers record 53 doubles. Because of the catchy standing O-vation fans would give him whenever he did anything good during a game, he single handedly helped in the Brewers resurgence. Fans like to have fun when they go to baseball games and because of a guy like Lyle, win or lose, that was always a given. That was back during 2004 when the team was still way below .500 and then in 2005 when they finally actually got to .500. The team really hasn't had a problem putting people in the seats since then. Lyle helped change the entire mind set of an entire fan base. While all of the young guns were still honing their skills down on the farm, Overbay and others suggested to the fans that this team is competent and can win games now.
It was the now defunct Buckethead Brigade that the O-vation had its roots, but it quickly became something that the entire stadium, young and old fans alike would do during every Overbay at bat. When you consider that Overbay is simply a fundamentally sound baseball player, and then consider that in return for him the Brewers got Dave Bush, Zach Jackson and Gabe Gross which is now Josh Butler, one can't help but wonder what if it was Overbay they moved to RF or LF to make way for another player (Prince Fielder) instead of Bill Hall two years later? His steady bat, polished fundamentals and upbeat, can do attitude certainly wouldn't hurt right now. It was no secret that Fielder was the Brewers first baseman of the future, yet Lyle still just hit the ball and played a smooth 1B.
The Brewers used to be an after thought when it came to division championship and wild card talks, but it was the years when Overbay became a huge fan favorite that the talk switched from "please, we're the Brewers," to "we've actually got pretty nice 3-4-5 hitters in our lineup." And it's not a coincidence that the old ball park started to fill up more often around that time either. The number one thing that puts fans in the seats is a winning/competitive team. The second is players you want to cheer for.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
